"I love challenging authority," Jessica Alba told In Style for the magazine's June issue. "It probably wasn't easy being my parents," the actress said. "The second somebody says, 'No,' to me is the second I'm going to jump up and say, 'Yes!' " Alba also said she's happy to be taking on eclectic roles that don't typecast her as "some kind of little tart." "Because obviously, if you have a womanly figure, you're not allowed to have a brain or any idea of the world whatsoever," she said facetiously. "You just have to be hot and use your body to get ahead."...

Two former parties associated with Eminem have filed a lawsuit over digital royalty rates against the rapper's Aftermath/Interscope recording home, according to Billboard. Em2M and the Bass Brothers' FBT Productions, which originally signed the rapper to its Web Entertainment label in 1995, claim to have received an unfair split of royalties from Eminem's Internet downloads and ringtone sales under an agreement signed in 1998. The lawsuit, filed Monday in a Los Angeles federal court, states the invested parties should be receiving 50 percent of net receipts for recording services -- including, in this case, electronic and digital services, they claim -- used by Aftermath/Interscope versus the lower undisclosed amount they had been receiving. Representatives for Interscope did not respond to inquiries made by MTV News as of press time. ...

Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks, Melinda Doolittle, Sanjaya Malakar, Carrie Underwood, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken and other familiar "American Idol" faces have donated to a charity auction being organized by former finalist Kimberley Locke and the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation. The "Kimberley Locke & Idol Friends" online charity auction, which started Monday, features clothing and accessories worn by the contestants and judges, with proceeds going to a handful of charity organizations. ... In related news, Taylor Hicks isn't about to let this week's soon-to-be-crowned "American Idol" sop up all the attention. Last year's winner will carry out a lengthy tour beginning June 1 in Bessemer, Alabama, and winding down October 13 in Millersville, Pennsylvania. He has also teed up a memoir, "Heart Full of Soul," to be released July 10. ... "Idol" fans have picked "This Is My Now" as their top choice for Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis to perform on Tuesday night's (May 22) show, and for this week's winner to record as his or her first single. Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody of Seattle won the songwriting competition, which drew more than 25,000 submissions and about a half-million votes. The songwriters earn an exclusive deal with 19 Entertainment. ...

On Tuesday, the jury in Phil Spector's murder trial was shown a videotape of the music producer's chauffeur saying he heard Spector claim, "I think I killed somebody," five hours after actress Lana Clarkson was shot inside Spector's home, The Associated Press reports. The tape, which was admitted into evidence over objections from the defense, showed that Adriano De Souza stuck to his account of the events. ... Eve has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence when she crashed her car on April 26, TMZ.com reports. An attorney for the rapper entered the plea in a Los Angeles courtroom, but Eve was not present. ...

The Smashing Pumpkins performed for the first time in more than six years on Tuesday night, launching their world tour by playing for 2,200 fans at Paris' Grand Rex theater. Original members Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin were joined by guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Ginger Reyes -- confirming a previous Chicago Tribune report that suggested the obscure indie musicians would be joining the reunited band's fold -- as well as Los Angeles jazz musician Lisa Harriton on keyboards. They performed classic songs as well as new material from their Zeitgeist album, due July 7. ...

Jon Heder and his wife Kristen have welcomed daughter Evan Jane Heder, their first child, according to People. The baby's date of birth has not been revealed. ... Do you like John Mayer's wisecracks? According to People, the singer/songwriter brought down the house by performing a raunchy stand-up routine at New York's Comedy Cellar over the weekend. A video of the gig, including Mayer's spoof of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" -- has popped up on YouTube. ... Actor Tom Sizemore pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to five felony drug counts, including transportation and possession of crystal methamphetamine, AP reports. He faces up to six years in prison if convicted on all charges. Sizemore was arrested May 8 after police allegedly found two bags of the drug, as well as smoking pipes, in his car. ...

Deryck Whibley, cooking and MySpace -- Avril Lavigne is way into the first two, she reveals in the June/July issue of CosmoGirl!, but not so much the third. In the magazine, due on newsstands Tuesday, the singer talks about finding love with the Sum 41 frontman ("I first kissed Deryck when I was 17, and I have been kissing him ever since"); compares herself to Martha Stewart ("I'm really good at cooking. Breakfast, soup, salads, vegetarian stuff ... my favorite food is Italian"); and says she's "so not a computer person" -- and isn't really down with "the whole MySpace thing." "I'll change my pictures and sometimes I'll write a blog," she explained. "Some bands go on every day. I can't do that -- it's confusing." ...

"American Idol" will skip the traditional remote broadcasts from the hometowns of finalists Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis on Wednesday's finale. The Arizona Republic reported that city officials in Glendale, Arizona, announced May 9 that portions of the show would be broadcast from a free viewing party with a celebrity host at Jobing.com Arena in Sparks' hometown. But Thursday, a city spokesperson said the show had canceled the segments from the contestants' hometowns. An "Idol" spokesperson issued a "no comment" to MTV News on the unexplained change of plans. ... Kanye West will perform July 13 as part of the Québec City Summer Festival, which runs from July 5-15. Billy Talent are also on the lineup, with additional artists expected to be announced in the coming weeks. ...

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" will have its international premiere in Tokyo on June 28, Warner Bros. Entertainment announced Tuesday. Daniel Radcliffe is expected to attend the event. The fifth film in the J.K. Rowling franchise will premiere in London on July 3 and in Los Angeles on July 8. It opens in U.S. theaters July 13. ... Ciara will make her big-screen debut opposite another diva, Patti LaBelle, in an adaptation of the off-Broadway gospel musical "Mama, I Want to Sing!" Variety reports that the film will begin shooting next month in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is slated for release in February. The musical tells the story of a preacher's daughter who rises from the church choir to pop stardom. ...

Los Angelinos strapped for cash but hoping to see Prince perform, you're in luck: The artist is expected to add a seven-week stay at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel on top of his "21 Nights in London" tour, according to the Los Angeles Times. Starting June 15, the hotel lobby will be shut down at 9 p.m., and at 11:30, Prince will play a two-hour set for a few hundred guests. His private chef will take over the hotel restaurant at 2 a.m., turning it into an after-hours jazz club that will be entertained by His Purpleness until 4 a.m. The same regiment will follow for the six ensuing Fridays, with special guests expected to join Prince on each occasion. ... Yellowcard will release Paper Walls, their third LP for Capitol, July 17. The Florida rockers' set will feature 13 cuts, including "Shrink the World," "Shadows and Regrets" and "You and Me and One Spotlight." ...

Dave Navarro will be on the judging panel for the 2007 Miss Universe pageant, airing live from Mexico City, Mexico, on Monday. Vanessa Minnillo and Mario Lopez are co-hosting the show. ... As I Lay Dying have set An Ocean Between Us as the title of their forthcoming LP, though a release date hasn't been confirmed. Most of the effort was tracked at singer Tim Lambesis' home studio, with Killswitch Engage's Adam Dutkiewicz producing along with the band. Look for the set to include "Separation," "Nothing Left" and "Within Destruction." The San Diego metalcore act has also announced the permanent addition of bassist Josh Gilbert to the fold. ...

311 will spend the next three months on the road as part of the Summer Unity Tour, which also features Matisyahu and the Rivalry on select dates. The trek kicks off June 21 in Tucson, Arizona, and wraps August 29 in Redmond, Washington. ... The Flaming Lips, Decemberists, Kings of Leon, Das EFX, Spoon and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are among the bands on the initial lineup for the two-day Monolith Music Festival, which will take over Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado, on September 14-15. Tickets for the event, which will host 50-plus bands on five stages, go on sale June 2. ... New York's seventh annual Siren Music Festival will feature sets from the New York Dolls, We Are Scientists, the Black Lips, Noisettes, Detroit Cobras, Matt & Kim, Dr. Dog, Lavender Diamond, Elvis Perkins and the Twilight Sad. The free, all-day, all-ages festival will take place July 21 at Brooklyn's Coney Island. ...

Sure, you could run out and grab yourself a sweet Spider-Man action figure, but in a cage match, Peter Parker wouldn't stand a chance against Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Don't believe us? Watch in November, when the bassist gets his very own action figure. The 6-inch figure will come with one of four random backgrounds and one of three random bass guitars. ... An attorney for the band Kittie has served American Youth Symphony, the producers of the upcoming television show "America's Hot Musician," a cease-and-desist order. The camp is seeking to bar the program from using clips from the band's video "All I Always Wanted" in the show's opening theme; former Kittie bassist Talena Atfield serves as one of the show's three judges. American Youth Symphony claim they were given permission to use the clips by Sheridan Square Entertainment, which owns the licensing rights to the video and has no plans to adhere to the cease-and-desist request. ...

The Recording Industry Association of America and multiple artists' groups are going to ask Congress to repeal the federal exemption that allows broadcast radio stations to circumvent paying royalties to labels and artists, the Los Angeles Times reports. If the exemption is lifted, that could mean hundreds of millions of dollars -- annually -- in new royalties. ... Bo Diddley, who suffered a stroke earlier this month, is being transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular room, his representative announced Monday. The guitarist, who is being treated at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, is awaiting clearance from his doctor to transfer to a hospital in Gainesville, Florida, closer to his home.

05.21.2007

Amy Lee spoke candidly about her recent marriage and the recent departure of two Evanescence members in a post on the band's message board over the weekend. Calling marriage "the most incredible thing to happen in my life so far," Lee explained that she returned from her honeymoon and "discovered the fact that I was unable to defend myself for a week [and] was taken advantage of quite a bit." Lee said guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray, who left the lineup earlier this month and were recently replaced by Dark New Day's Will Hunt and Troy McLawhorn, "both made it clear they were ready to move on." LeCompt and Gray "were very vocal about the fact that they didn't really care about Evanescence at all and just stayed around for the money," the post continued. "They were miserable. They are no longer playing with us because I love this band too much to see it driven into the ground." Lee also said that Gray didn't quit, as he's claimed; she contends he was fired after weeks of threatening to quit. ...

Avril Lavigne has remixed her hit song "Girlfriend" with none other than teen heroine Lil Mama of "Lip Gloss" fame. The remix keeps the same beat and lyrics, with Mama throwing on her raps. ...

Two more shows have been added to the American Idols Live Tour: additional dates at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, on August 25; and Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on August 29. ... As "American Idol" fans wait for one of the two finalists to fall, Paula Abdul took a spill of her own this weekend, according to E! Online. In an attempt to avoid stepping on one of her dogs, the judge fell and broke her nose. A representative told the news outlet that Abdul was not hospitalized and that the injury will not affect her appearance on the program this week. ...

Does Bobby Valentino want to be known as the new "Mac daddy" or what? The soulful crooner will play at seven Apple stores next month, in Atlanta (June 1), New York (June 8), Chicago (June 12), Dallas (June 21), Los Angeles (June 23) and San Francisco (June 27). The seventh performance will be held in Houston on June 16 or 20. ... Jim Jones just launched his online clothing store, Nostic Apparel. The line, which features Jones' rock-meets-rap style, was founded by his mother. ...

When tickets for the Smashing Pumpkins' nine-night residency at Asheville, North Carolina's Orange Peel went on sale Sunday, TicketWeb servers weren't able to handle the load, and the demand for tickets crashed the site, bringing sales to a halt. Tickets will now be sold via Ticketmaster instead, but Orange Peel spokeswoman Liz Whalen told Asheville's Citizen-Times on Monday morning (May 21) that the venue wasn't sure whether tickets would be available Monday or Tuesday -- tickets were unavailable via Ticketmaster at press time. The band has also added three more dates to its residency at San Francisco's Fillmore. ...

The Killers have announced new dates for two shows that had to be postponed last week due to frontman Brandon Flowers' bronchitis. The band's Thursday show at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado -- which the guys cut short after only two songs -- has been rescheduled for September 4. Their Seattle show -- scheduled for this past Sunday -- will now take place May 27. Tickets for the original shows will be honored at the makeup concerts. ... Franz Ferdinand are planning to play a gig in New York and a few small club shows in their native stomping grounds of Glasgow, Scotland, but dates and venue information has yet to be made available. According to frontman Alex Kapranos, the band continues work on its next LP and plans to debut some new material during the concerts. ...

Phil Spector's chauffeur wrongly implicated the music producer in the death of actress Lana Clarkson, Spector's defense argued in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, The Associated Press reports. Adriano De Souza -- who previously testified that Spector said, "I think I killed somebody," after exiting his mansion with a gun in hand the morning of the shooting -- originally told officers that Spector said, "I think I shot somebody," according to defense attorney Bradley Brunon. De Souza said he had heard Spector speak clearly but that he was also tired and frightened. ... Former Creed singer Scott Stapp was arrested at his Boca Raton, Florida, home on Sunday and was charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony. A judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor on Monday, AP reports, after the Palm Beach County sheriff's office determined that the bottle of Orangina that Stapp allegedly threw at his wife, Jaclyn Nesheiwat, was not a deadly weapon. Stapp was scheduled for supervised release Monday, and will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing. ...

Before Paris Hilton was sentenced to jail for violating her probation, she posed with on-again friend Nicole Richie for a Harper's Bazaar June cover story titled "Partners in Crime" that features the pair dressed in stripes -- zebra, not prison -- and posing as jewel thieves. "I think I get in more trouble just because of who I am," Hilton said in the Bazaar interview. "[Police] just pull me over to hit on me. It's really annoying. ... And the paparazzi, of course, take a picture. All the time. I have so many cops' business cards." Richie -- who is in some hot water of her own, facing a DUI charge stemming from a December arrest that could land her in jail for 90 days thanks to a prior conviction -- said she can't catch a break. "Every mistake I make, there's consequences," she explained. "I don't take anything lightly." The June issue of Bazaar hits newsstands Tuesday. ...

Bow Wowand Crime Mob performed Saturday at Utopia's Paradise Theater in the Bronx, New York, with 20 percent of the proceeds of the show benefiting the surviving family members of two African immigrant families that combined lost nine children and one adult in a tragic March 7 fire. A spokesperson for the families told local news channel NY1 that they will donate the funds back to the community. ...

A week after the attorneys general of eight states accused MySpace of dragging its feet in handing over information on registered sex offenders using the site, the company announced Monday that it would provide the AGs with the requested materials. According to a press release from MySpace, the popular social-networking site will hand over information on registered sex offenders that it has identified and deleted from the site using the Sentinel SAFE program, which it began using earlier this month. "We have zero tolerance for sexual predators on MySpace and took the initiative to create this first of its kind tool ourselves because nothing previously existed," MySpace Chief Security Officer Hemanshu Nigam said. "We look forward to working collaboratively with the attorneys general on all future efforts to make the Internet a safer place for teens." ... Sylvester Stallone won't be doing hard time Down Under. The "Rocky" actor dodged a bullet on Monday when a judge in New South Wales, Australia, fined the brawny 60-year-old $2,500 plus court costs for illegally bringing 48 vials of human-growth hormone to the country during a promotional trip in February, according to a Reuters report. Stallone explained to customs officials at the time that he was prescribed the drugs to give his body a boost and to look "good" during his current shoot of a "Rambo" sequel in Asia.